Police in Germany said they have shut down the servers of Hydra, the largest illegal market on the Darknet, and confiscated €23 million ($25 million) worth of bitcoins.
In a statement, the Federal Criminal Police Office (BKA) said the suspects were being investigated for "operating criminal online trading platforms on a commercial basis." The Federal Bureau of Investigation in Germany added that investigations into the illegal Russian market began in August 2021 and also involved several US authorities.
Founded in 2015, the Hydra platform has served Russian-speaking markets, selling drugs, as well as stolen credit card data, counterfeit currency, and fake identity documents, anonymizing those involved using the Tor encryption network. According to BKA , the market had about 17 million customer accounts and more than 19,000 seller accounts.
"The Hydra market was probably the illegal market with the highest sales rate worldwide, with sales reaching at least 1.23 billion euros in 2020 alone," the Federal Police said.
It added that the platform's "Bitcoin Bank Mixer", a service to hide digital transactions, made investigations particularly difficult. A forfeiture banner was posted on the market's website.
The secret "dark web" includes websites that can only be accessed with specific software or permissions, ensuring anonymity for users. Such networks have faced increasing pressure from international law enforcement after a surge in use during the coronavirus pandemic.
German-led police last year scrapped the popular Darknet, which had nearly 500,000 users and more than 2,400 sellers worldwide.
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